


Burn Me Down

by Shi_Toyu



Series: Soulmate Mash-Up [6]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bot Feels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Loki Feels, Loki Needs a Hug, M/M, Pre-Avengers (2012), Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 22:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5603257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_Toyu/pseuds/Shi_Toyu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Between Tony and Loki, nothing is easy. Not even finding their soulmates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burn Me Down

"Prince Loki, Heimdall wishes to see you. He says he has received a message for you."

Loki frowned at the servant, but dismissed him quickly and headed for the stables. It took little time to saddle his horse and ride out to the Bifrost. Heimdall waited for him there, imposing with his great armor and blind eyes which saw so much. He and Loki had never gotten on very well.

"What is this message you speak of, Heimdall? I have been expecting no correspondence."

"Nor is this one that you would expect."

The guardian of the realm made a sweeping gesture to direct Loki's line of sight over to what appeared to be a battered metal box, pointed at one end. Fins or metal sails sprouted from the box's sides and top. The entire thing was about as tall as Thor and easily as wide. Loki's eyebrows drew together at the curious sight.

"What is it? Who sent it?"

He moved closer to examine it, running his hands over its surface.

"It drifted in space for a short time before it was brought to my attention," Heimdall intoned seriously. "No more than perhaps ten years. It was meant for you, however."

Loki frowned, but nodded anyway. He bundled the object away into one of his pocket dimensions rather than strapping it to his horse. The beast could carry the burden for certain, but there was no need to deal with such an awkwardly-shaped package any more than necessary.

"I shall take it with me then. Thank you, Heimdall."

The guardian dipped his head in a bow.

"My prince."

The ride back to the palace felt longer than it truly was. It had been a long time since something had happened to Loki so out of the blue. He burned with curiosity over what it could be. He left his horse with a stable boy and headed to his own chambers, going out of his way to avoid Thor by using the servants' passages. His brother had been absolutely insufferable since Odin had announced that Thor would be the one to take up the throne. He wasn't king yet, but Thor certainly seemed to think he was. But Loki had plans for that, plans that still needed a bit of work but were mostly fleshed out. They could wait long enough for Loki to have a look at such a unique and interesting bauble.

Within his chambers, the front sitting room had enough available space for the object but Loki didn't much like the idea of leaving it just lying about for anyone to see if they entered. He took it to his sleeping chambers, spelling aside his writing desk so that it slid down the wall and into a corner. Then he withdrew the object from his pocket dimension and settled it into place.

Upon closer inspection the metal that made it up was far more brittle than anything Asgard produced, much less Alfheim or Vanaheim. A sword made out of this wouldn't even pierce a warrior's skin. It was silver in color but had been painted over with white, some sort of design covering one side. There were words around the design in a language that Loki had never seen before, but that the All-Speak adapted to quickly enough.

"Stark Industries…"

A company, perhaps? Some sort of smithy attempting to curry favor with Asgard by way of their youngest prince? If so, they would need to first improve their wares.

Loki found a latch along a crease in the metal and flicked it open. The side of the object lifted up, revealing a hollow interior filled with yet more objects of varying size and material. Loki propped up the lid and set about pulling things from within. They were all curious little things he couldn't even fathom the purpose of. Many of them were made from materials he didn't recognize, or materials he did recognize but somehow warped. He found a rectangle of paper jumbled in amongst the other items as well, yellowed a bit and torn just slightly. It took him a second to figure out it was an envelope he could open. He was impressed by how the writing was so incredibly precise, but he turned his attention to the picture that had come along with it first.

The paper it was on was glossy and incredibly thin for a painting or drawing. For the life of him, Loki could not figure out what medium had been used to render the image. Additionally, the image was far too precise and vivid to have been the work of an artist. It was almost as shocking as the image itself. A gangly boy, no more than 800 years old grinned over his shoulder at the camera. He wore no shirt and had his trousers pulled down a bit in the back to display the dark mark upon his ass cheek while still preserving some dignity. The mark was a wide-set V with crooked ends and Loki's mouth went dry at the sight. It matched the mark upon Loki's own shoulder, one half resting upon his collar bone. This was his soulmate.

Loki had thought his soulmate not born yet. His mark, ever since it had first appeared when he was but a child, had always burned in the direction of Helheim, located just on the opposite side of Midgard. That direction had never changed. Could his soulmate be a Midgardian? He stared for a long, stunned moment before reading the letter, suddenly desperate to know what his soulmate had written to him.

_To the person unlucky enough to be my soulmate (Or lucky enough!),_

_I hope this letter reaches you somehow. I've just kind of going off educated hope at this point. My mark burns most often when pointed in this direction. I figured it was as good a bet as any. I'm not sitting around on my ass my entire life waiting for you to show up. This rocket contains a bit about my life and world. At current, we don't have deep space travel capabilities. If you happen to, feel free to swing on by. I'm working on it, even talked my father into dedicating a portion of R &D to it. They're hopeless, though. I'll have to get them more into shape once I'm involved._

_So, I'm sure you noticed I typed this letter instead of writing it. I know, I know. Jarvis would say that makes it less personal but at least this way you can read it. Hopefully. Statistically, there's a pretty low likelihood of you being able to read English, seeing as you're an alien and all. The point is, though, that I have terrible handwriting. Yet another thing to add to my long list of faults. Sorry about that. You must have the patience of a saint to be my soulmate. I hope it's not too terrible for you, though. I really would like to make you happy. On the bright side, I'm smart and very rich. That should make up for some of it._

_I suppose I should tell you a little bit about myself before I launch into everything I sent along. I'm an only child and in college. That's basically the highest form of education available here on Earth. I'm not sure if your world has an equivalent. I have another year and a half to go before I'm free of this place. I'll get a job at my father's company until he's ready to retire and then I'll take over. The company is Stark Industries, largest weapons manufacturer in the world. We also do medical equipment, domestic electronics, and all sorts of other things that have to do with technology but we predominately make weapons. I don't want to overload you with details._

_I do a lot of work with the designs for the company already, particularly where robotics are involved. One of the items I've sent along is actually an artificial intelligence I built. He's in sleep mode for the journey in case it takes a while, but I trained him up beforehand. He's got some basic intelligence and he'll learn quickly enough once you reactivate him. Just type the code 3-8-6-2-5 into the keypad on his belly. He's the folded up black square. I've been calling him L_PTTSY but you can rename him whatever you'd like. He'll recognize you as his Primary Operator once you let him scan your soul mark. He'll also be able to find me if you come by Earth sometime._

_So, the other things I sent are mostly to do with the world in general. There's a map, well, two maps. One is of the world in general and one is of the United States. That's where I live. Don't worry, I left notes. I had my roommate, Rhodey, write them in. He had much better handwriting than I do. Anyway, those are the two big, square pieces of paper. The countries aren't really those colors, it's just so you can tell them apart easier._

_The small, thin, plastic rectangles are cassette tapes. They hold music. I made you a mixtape of all my favorite songs, mostly ACDC. Hopefully you'll like them. Otherwise we might have a problem. You can give them to L_PTTSY. He'll know how to play them. I built a whole sound system into his chassis. Way better that a boom box._

_I was gonna send you some chucks, but I've got no idea what size shoe you wear. Consider this an IOU. I did add a hacky-sack, though. It's wicked awesome, man. It's the little clothe ball with the beans inside. You're supposed to kick it with your feet to keep it in the air so that it doesn't touch the ground. It's really fun if you get a bunch of people doing it with multiple balls. Totally rad!_

_I've got a whole assortment of books in there, too. I made sure to include a few about our history, both of the US and worldwide. There are some comics in there. I got you all the classics. Captain America is my favorite. It's based on a real guy, actually. My father worked with him back in World War II. You'll read about that in the history books. You know, if you don't fall asleep first. The science books are what I'm really hoping you'll enjoy. I'm so excited to find out more about your society! Is it more advanced than ours? Less? I guess we'll find out._

_Well, that's it, I suppose. I can't think of anything else to write and I'm nearly to end of the page. I hope you enjoy the things I sent you and I really hope you have deep space travel capabilities. Getting to meet you would be so beyond rad, I can't even begin to describe it._

_Wherever you are, I hope you're happy._

_-Tony Stark_

Loki frowned at the letter for a long moment, then lifted the 'picture' to look at it again. Tony did not look unhappy, for certain, but he did sound it. The tone of his letter was one that begged for approval and acceptance. Loki sighed. Of course his soulmate would be one that required maintenance. That wasn't something Loki had the time to deal with right now. He had his brother's coronation to ruin. It was barely seven years away. Besides, his soulmate wasn't even of age yet judging by the picture. He would need at least a couple hundred years to come into adulthood. Even if age was something considered largely irrelevant between soulmates, Loki didn't look fondly on the thought of being followed around by a child.

He set the letter aside to begin rooting through the 'rocket' again. It was a curious word, one that did not have an equivalent in the language of the gods. They had no objects such as this either, though, so Loki supposed that made sense. The Aesir had no need for such trash. He scowled as he found what he was looking for and pulled out the black, metal box with a keypad upon it. It was made of the same cheap, weak metal as the rocket which had carried it through space. Worthless. None the less, he plugged the code from the letter into its keypad.

L_PTTSY shuddered for a moment before unfolding its multiple legs from where they'd been hidden away. Loki set it gently on the floor and scooted back a bit, watching with fascination. The legs managed to flip the device over, putting the keypad on its belly, as the entire frame continued to shift its own shape. When it settled, the body of the construct was rounded and held aloft by eight spindly legs. It took a few teetering steps back and forth before it seemed to find its balance. A single glass eye, black and unnerving in its bottomlessness, turned to look at Loki as if it could actually see him. The construct took a few steps forward and beeped.

Loki stared at it for a long moment, examining the creature as it seemed to examine him. With a huff, but curious to see what the creature's reaction would be, he spelled away his armor before shifting his jacket and shirt enough to expose his shoulder and collarbone. The creature gave another beep, this time a bit excitedly, as it scrambled over his legs to brace against his abdomen and lift its single eye up to see the mark. A red light shot out of it, sweeping over the mark on his skin, leaving behind a tingling sensation where it had interacted with his magic. Loki's brows furrowed. He'd never felt something quite like that before.

The construct made a whirring noise quite unlike its earlier beeps and shifted over to better see Loki's face. Loki frowned in discomfort as he lifted the creature from his person and set it aside. He had no interest in being crawled all over. It beeped a few more times and then seemed to find the 'rocket' of interest. Loki let its attention wander unchecked as he turned his own to the other items from within the vessel.

He quickly found the small rectangular items that the letter had spoken off. The material they were made out of was foreign to him, and utterly empty of magic. It was…disturbing, almost, to feel such a void in such a small item. 'Plastic,' the letter had called the material. Curious, Loki pumped a little of his own magic into the object. It absorbed it without trouble. He could still sense it there, simply held. He tried drawing it back out and it came easily. A grin stretched itself across Loki's face. Devices for storing magic were rare indeed, particularly items which could store power as effectively as this. Intentional or not, Loki's soulmate had sent him a great boon.

He pumped magic back into the object, this time not stopping with just a small amount. By storing magic in an object such as this, he could build up his reserves all over again and have access to more power than he normally would have. As he was drained dry, he could pull upon the stored magic to revitalize his energy. It would make his plans for Thor, as well as any future plots, all the easier to carry out. He would have to thank his soulmate when they finally met, but that would not be for some time yet. He had his own objective to fulfill. Perhaps, once Loki had proved how ill-suited Thor was for the throne, he would seek out this Tony Stark, his soulmate. Still far too young, but a few hundred years would put him at least at an acceptable age. Loki would have no use for him before then.

.

..

…

..

.

"No, Loki."

The pain that tore through Loki's chest at his supposed father's words was nearly indescribable. It was all suddenly so clear to him. He would never win Odin's approval, never be accepted. Nothing Loki the Trickster did would ever be good enough. He should have known, should have seen the truth far sooner than he did. Now, the truth tore through him and Loki, coming to understand it as he never had before, let Gungnir slip from his grasp. He could hear Thor crying out above him, but did nothing but spread his arms and allow the Void to take him. If the blond fool really wanted to save him, all he had to do was pick up that damned hammer of his and fly. Part of Loki hoped he wouldn't but the part of him that still yearned for acceptance, even after all this, still ached when he didn't.

Loki fell for a long time, longer than he would have thought possible. He lost track of time quickly, but the sensation of it passing held strong. It was like sand slipping through his fingers without end. He had expected the Void to kill him, truly, but it seemed to have no interest in doing so. It simply held him, falling slowly through empty space. For a mind like Loki's, the lack of stimulation was maddening. He couldn't be sure how long he'd been there before he reached into a pocket dimension and withdrew the creature that had become his constant companion since its arrival just seven years before. L_PTTSY gave a happy whir and squirmed in his hands. Loki chuckled at the creature's antics.

"Settle down, now. Should I drop you, you will be lost forever." He frowned, reminded of his own predicament. "At least now, we are lost together."

More beeps and whirs, inquisitive ones. It was one of the things that had drawn Loki to the creature in the first place, its inherent curiosity with everything it encountered. That, and how it had managed to set Thor's cloak on fire upon first meeting the other Aesir. Loki lay back in the current of the Void, letting it cradle him.

"There is a lot you have missed, I supposed, with me keeping you out of harm's way in that pocket dimension. Come, I will explain it to you."

So he told L_PTTSY about all that had occurred during Thor's coronation, the storming of Jotunheim afterward, and Thor's banishment. He spoke of confronting Odin only for the king to slip into the Odin-sleep at the most inconvenient of times and then Loki being handed the crown. He spoke of his plot to destroy Jotunheim, to prove that he was not one of the monsters who dwelled there, only to prove in the very act of doing so that a monster was exactly what he was. L_PTTSY listened patiently, only interjecting with the occasional beep or whir. The All-Speak never translated any of the creature's noises, but Loki was convinced they were a language none the less.

Loki fell silent at the end of his tale, unsure where to go from there. L_PTTSY was silent, too, seeming to consider all that had been said. Then it gave a little click as some of it's hardware slid into place and there was a familiar little crackling noise before music began to fill the air. Strings and percussion met in a dance more violent and clashing than any upon Asgard, and Loki recognized it instantly, even more once the male singer began wailing out the lyrics. He had recognized it before L_PTTSY had even begun playing to actual music.

"Ah…Tony Stark…"

Loki considered the suggestion, rolled it around in his head to view it from all sides. His soulmate would still be so young, but it wasn't as though Loki had anyone else to turn to. He had allies scattered across the Nine Realms, true, but none that he would accept showing such weakness to as he would have to show now. Tony, though, was his soulmate and had reached out to Loki already. He would be receptive of Loki's arrival for sure, no matter the circumstances. Which left only the dilemma of how to reach him.

Loki himself did not have the power to reach any world from where he was. He could still feel the presence of Yggdrasil at the fringes of the Void, could probably even reach her, but his power would be too drained for him to continue from there and Yggdrasil was no resting place. It was not safe to stay there without defenses. If he were to go there, he needed to be able to keep moving once he arrived. The music played on in the background of his thoughts and Loki reached out to stroke along one of L_PTTSY's legs.

"How much power do we have stored in that tape, little one?"

The other tape, Loki knew, he had drained traveling back and forth to Midgard during Thor's banishment. This one, though it was not full, might still hold just enough…L_PTTSY deposited the tape into Loki's waiting hand and the mage probed at the magic inside. There wasn't much. Loki cursed. He could not simply remain here forever, though. If he ran into any of the more serious traps of Yggdrasil, his death was assured but with luck on his side it might be possible to make it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steeling himself. He hoped his soulmate at least had some healing capabilities. Loki would probably be in need of them.

.

..

…

..

.

Tony loved Kyoto. He really did. The air was so much cleaner than Tokyo and the city was where most of Japan's technology market was based. Plus there was a place just two blocks from the university Tony was dealing with that served hand-pulled noodles. The restaurant had been family run for the past three generations and Tony genuinely hoped that never changed. He'd already been there four days and had gotten their noodles every single day. He planned for the trend to continue for the rest of his stay.

He had just paid for his current meal and was turning away with his number to find a table when his right ass cheek started burning like someone had stuck it with a hot poker. Tony cursed as he stumbled but quickly recovered himself. His soulmark had been acting up lately. Growing up, the mark mostly only burned if Tony's ass was sticking straight up in the air. Needless to say, he got used to sleeping on his back pretty quickly.

His mother had been heartbroken to hear that her son had an "Angel" mark, the soulmark of someone who had either already passed on or who had not yet been born. That was the popular theory, at least, and Maria had always been the religious type. Tony had never really bought into the whole idea of Heaven, much less that his soulmate was there. "Angel" marks were incredibly rare and no one in the past 300 years who possessed one had even met their soulmate. All the ones who had done so before that had been in myths and stories, alluding to magic or mythical beings. Tony didn't much buy into that, either. He was a man of science, after all.

That didn't mean Tony wasn't still interested in learning more about them, though. As a child, he'd read the old stories with as much enthusiasm as he had read scientific texts. He drew up diagrams mapping out the similarities between them as well as the differences. He looked into the political and cultural aspects of each era and location to discover what might have influenced the tales. It didn't take long for a picture to form, one that had left tiny Tony excited by the mere possibilities.

He was lucky, he supposed, that when he finally approached his father and told Howard that aliens existed it was while Aunt Peggy was also in the room. Ten-year-old Tony had calculated it that way, but it was still lucky that it'd worked out. Howard had given him a gruff dismissal, but Aunt Peggy had shushed the older Stark and encouraged Tony to explain. He'd met the Director of SHIELD less than a week later. At sixteen, he'd launched a rocket into deep space in the hopes of contacting his soulmate. Nothing had changed.

After so many years of his mark being inactive except when pointed skyward, it probably should have alarmed Tony more that it had suddenly started burning in all sorts of different directions. He couldn't seem to muster up the hope anymore, though. It'd been nearly twenty years since he'd sent that rocket into space and he was much less of an optimist now than he had been then. Besides, considering everything that had happened in the past couple years his soulmate would be getting a pretty rough deal if he or she did decide to show up. Tony knew there was nothing he could do to stop the arc reactor from killing him now. The damage was too extensive. He and his soulmate would have couple weeks together at the most.

Tony took a seat at a table against the back wall, facing the shop's entrance. His soulmark quit burning with the change of angle and that was good. It meant he didn't have to deal with one more thing on top of everything else. He pulled a StarkPad out of his bag, opening up his emails to get some more work done while he waited for his food. Pepper had forwarded him over the requirements of that Australian tribe he wanted to take a look at the Holy Grounds for. At least they were willing to talk to him about it. Tony just wished they'd been willing to talk a bit sooner. He didn't even look up when the door jangled to indicate a new arrival.

He did, however, look up at a series of beeps and whirs followed by the sounds of metal scrambling across wooden floors. Tony's tablet nearly fell off the table as a spider-like robot sped into his shins and proceeded to climb him like a child over a lava pit. He wrapped his arms around the bot before his brain even caught up to the fact that it was one he recognized.

"L_PTTSY?"

The bot's beeps and whirs were accompanied by a deep chuckle and Tony looked up to find a tall, pale man nearly stumbling as he moved forward through the shop. His face looked haggard and a bit grey, dark bags shadowing his eyes. He was dressed in leather and metal, a long green cape brushing the ground behind him.

"Greetings, Midgardian," the man bid him, giving a ghost of a smile. "I seek one Tony Stark. Should you assist me, I shall reward you a boon. You have my word on this. If my companion has come to you, surely you must have a way of finding him."

Tony stared at him for a long moment, his fingers idly stroking along L_PTTSY's frame. He knew what this meant, knew who this man must be.

"I, uh, I am Tony Stark."

The man's brow furrowed as green eyes swept over Tony's body, taking him in. The stranger leaned heavily against one of the partitions that kept the dining in this restaurant more or less as private as possible.

"That's not possible. You are far too old to be the one I seek."

And, okay, _ow._ That's hurt. Tony thought he looked pretty good for a guy who was going to be dead in a matter of weeks, thank you very much. And he was only in his early thirties. He wasn't _old._

"Well, whether you believe it or not is up to you. Doesn't change the fact that I'm Tony Stark." His eyes narrowed, his irritation leaving him uncharitable. "So how about we get to the point of what you're doing here."

The man still just seemed confused.

"No, I-You're not supposed to-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, passing out where he stood and sliding to the floor in a crumbled heap. L_PTTSY squirmed frantically in Tony's arms. The inventor sighed. Couldn't his soulmate have at least waited until _after_ he'd gotten his noodles? He stepped over the body on the floor, heading back to the counter to ask for his order togo in flawless Japanese.

.

..

…

..

.

"Oh, good. You're awake. I ordered room service if you're hungry."

Tony grinned a bit as the man, apparently his soulmate, blinked up at the ceiling as if waiting for his brain to come back online. He looked a lot better after some sleep. Not that the tabloids weren't still going to have a field day with the story of Tony bringing a strange, unconscious man back to his hotel room. Tony was actually surprised he hadn't gotten a call from Pepper yet.

"Where…am I?"

The man's voice sounded a bit hoarse so Tony passed him a bottle of water. He examined it after sitting up like it was something he'd never seen before. Tony realized it might be just that.

"You twist the top off. Like this." He demonstrated with his own bottle. "You're in my hotel room, by the way. I realize it might be a bit forward seeing as we just met and all, but it seemed like a better plan than just leaving you on the floor of the restaurant."

"I thank you," the man spoke eloquently, after finally getting the bottle open and taking a few sips. "You are…truly Tony Stark?"

"The one and only." Tony settled on the edge of the bed, eyeing his guest curiously. "Just don't go making any more old cracks. I could pull down my pants to prove it to you, but I've already done that once for a photo."

L_PTTSY beeped from the front room and came crawling in, bee lining for the bed and the stranger's lap. The man automatically reached out to give the bot a little pat.

"Forgive me. I am still having trouble with this. When was that portrait done? Heimdall said he believed your rocket to be in space for no more than a decade before he was able to retrieve it. And it has only been seven years since then. You could have been no more than 800 at the time it was done."

Tony gaped at him.

"800? As in 800 years old?"

The man hesitated.

"Yes? That is why I did not come sooner. You were far too young…I had thought to give you a few hundred years to come to adulthood but…circumstances changed."

Tony's mind boggled.

"Just how long do your people live?"

"We average about 5,000 years…How long do your people live?"

The man's hesitance was clear in his voice. He was obviously smart enough to have figured at least part of it all out.

"A hundred at the most," Tony told him and then, because he'd have to find out eventually, "I'll live less than thirty-five. Probably."

The man was shaking his head in disbelief, clearly disturbed by the revelation.

"But…It has to have been-"

"I'm thirty-four now. My birthday is two weeks away. If I live that long, it will be the last one I have." The man looked devastated and Tony winced bit. Perhaps there was a kinder way to have said that. To be fair, though, he hadn't even told Pepper yet. "What's your name?"

He also really wanted to know how the Hell this guy knew English and about a million other things he had formed theories of during his research, but he'd stick with one thing at a time. This guy was clearly pretty overwhelmed at the moment. The interrogation about his home culture could wait a bit.

"I am Loki," the man said, still looking shell-shocked. "I am sorry, I should have introduced myself sooner. I-You are to be gone so soon?"

The smile Tony gave him was a sad, fragile thing. He hadn't allowed himself to dwell on the reality of his situation too much.

"I'm dying." He drummed his fingers against the arc reactor as he thought about how to explain his situation to someone with no knowledge of the Earth. "I was injured, a while back, and I built a device to keep me alive. This. Only, now it's poisoning me. If I leave it in, I will be dead in a few weeks. If I take it out, I will be dead in a few minutes when I have a heart attack."

Loki's eyes were locked on the reactor, now, on the light that it gave off even through Tony's shirt.

"There is…nothing your healers can do?"

"I've tried everything. No existing element or combination of elements could act as a viable substitute for the palladium core." He paused. "Which is the part that's poisoning me, by the way."

L_PTTSY made a sad kind of whirring noise and Tony scooped him up into his arms.

"Have you been able to understand all this, buddy? You've grown up a lot while out of Daddy's sight. I bet you've learned so much…"

"He has been a wonderful companion," Loki said, seeming to grab hold of this less painful topic. "I was not sure what to make of him at first, but he quickly proved himself both clever and resourceful."

Tony chuckled.

"Of course he did. He's a Stark."

"I wish," Loki started and then stopped before starting over. "If it were possible, I would call to Heimdall now and return to Asgard to beg a Golden Apple from Odin. It would cure you of any ailment as well as extend your life." He dropped his head, shoulders slumping, and Tony kind of wanted to wrap him up in a hug, too. "It would not be possible, though. The All-Father would never grant me such a boon after what I have done."

Tony scooted a bit closer.

"Want to tell me about it?"

So many questions. So, so many questions. Tony was pretty sure he would need that Golden Apple just to get through them all. Loki winced and his eyes fell to L_PTTSY, carefully avoiding Tony's own.

"I…A number of things were revealed to me in less than ideal circumstances and I did not handle them as well as I might have." His eyes dropped further, to his hands where they fiddled with the edge of the blanket covering his lower half. "I attempted to destroy a realm, and was only stopped by Thor destroying the Bifrost."

Tony gaped at him.

"You…You tried to destroy another _planet?"_

"Only in the interest of preventing a war," Loki protested. "So many would have died if our people clashed with theirs again. I sought to save lives. I have had time to think since then, though, and I see how foolish it was of me not to consider those lives that I was taking in the process."

Tony set L_PTTSY down on the bed, allowing the robot to travel back to Loki's lap. He had a feeling that robot was going to be playing ping pong back and forth between them as much as possible.

"An entire planet, though, I…" Tony shook his head to clear it. "I guess I can't really judge. I'm the one with the title of Merchant of Death, after all."

Loki's head popped up, eyes wide.

" _What?_ "

Tony backpedaled quickly.

"Just, you know, I used to make a lot of weapons. Really good ones. They used to call me the Modern Da Vinci and all sorts of ridiculous things."

"You are the Merchant of Death, though? You have been favored by Mistress Death?" Tony was lost, but Loki was clearly onto something as a grin was spreading across his face. He reached for Tony, clasping a hand onto his shoulder. "There is hope for us yet, then. I have had dealings with the Mistress Death before. She may be willing to hear me now."

"But, I don't-"

"I am known as Silvertongue for a reason, Tony Stark," Loki cut him off with a smile. "You shall not die so long as my words may stand in your way. I will require a few days to recuperate my magics enough to safely travel across Yggdrasil once more, but then I shall go straight to the Mistress. It would be best if you were to accompany me."

Tony knew an invitation to travel off world when he saw one and there was no way he was going to let this opportunity pass him by. He was gonna die soon, anyway. What was the worst that could happen?

"Alright," a grin of his own stretched across Tony's face. "Count me in."


End file.
